Grown Down
by icemint
Summary: A prank has almost never backfired on James and Sirius before - or it hasn't until now. Taking care of little Lily Evans sure gives a new meaning to life. Easy? Nope. Frustrating...definitely.
1. Don't Say I Didn't Warn You

Chapter 1: Don't Say I Didn't Warn You

"Alright! Alright! Are you guys done?" Lily's impatient voice wafted over to the couple kissing under the floating mistletoe. They instantly broke apart and stared wide-eyed at her. She had her arms crossed and her face was fighting to keep straight and passive.

Lily huffed a little and turned her head. A small patch of pink appeared on her cheeks before she spoke, "You've been at it since the last time I checked these halls. I thought you guys would've been gone by now. So could you please go to bed before I have to drag you both back?"

The two fifth years gave a slight nod before scrambling off into the dark. When they were clearly gone, Lily shook her head and smiled. It was just too cute for her to catch couples after dark kissing under the mistletoes. But lately, it was getting unnerving as she's caught more than half a dozen in one night. 

Turning around to finish her rounds, an unnatural breeze of wind whooshed by her face. "I'd love to take _you_ to bed, Tiger. How 'bout it?" 

Lily gasped and turned around. Nobody was there. A small chuckle caught her attention. She squinted and her ears perked up. She could hear the soft laughter but she couldn't tell which direction it was coming from. Her eyes strained for any sign of movement, but there was none. She looked over all the shadowed places, but there was nothing. The empty, dark hall was, in fact, empty. 

Suddenly, invisible hands grasped her arms from behind and she felt herself sink against the body of another person. She twisted and tried to pull away. "That better not be you, James," she said dangerously. Lily didn't have the right attitude to deal with this right now. She was tired, it was late, and she was definitely not in the mood for one of his pranks. 

Since December rolled in, James had been trying to catch Lily under the little traditional flower. It had been quite a shock when she was kissed by air one night while doing her rounds. She found out about his Invisible Cloak and now she knew better than to walk near any mistletoe so long as he had it.

A chuckled escaped from her captor. 

"I'm hurt, Lil. How can you not tell this body apart from James's?" The voice now had a face as it appeared out of nowhere. It was like a head floating in the middle of the air. The effect was quite scary. 

"Holy-! Sirius!" Lily elbowed him in the ribs from sheer reflex. 

"Geez! Ow!!" The rest of the Invisibility Cloak left him as he doubled over. No one else seemed to be there, but Lily was sure that she had heard James as well. She looked around then eyed him suspiciously.  

"Where's…"

"Right here, Lily flower," a bodiless voice had whispered in her ear. A shiver ran up her spine and she tried to recollect herself from the soft sensation. Slightly irritated, Lily flung an arm out only to have it caught in midair. She looked mildly surprised when her face came within inches of James's. "There's always one way you can tell it's me, love." He closed the gap between them and took all liberties to explore her mouth. It took Lily all the will power she had to keep from losing herself. 

Lily pulled away slightly dizzy and her breath was erratic. She gave him an incredulous look as if to ask what he was doing. To the world and all around it was only a few seconds of a fiery kiss, but to her it seemed to last forever and it was like nothing he had ever done to her before. She didn't know whether to be blissful or enraged. 

It only took Lily a while to make a decision as Sirius and James tore down the hall laughing under the Invisibility Cloak with limbs suddenly appearing every so often. She stood dumbly for a second before racing after them, wanting to scream and hex them for catching her off guard and playing dirty. Her face was flushed from embarrassment and was growing pinker as she ran. "You're gonna get it!" 

Lily rounded a corner and she was sure they had come this way, but she couldn't hear a thing. Not even the faintest breathing noise or shuffling of clothing. That's odd, she thought, I could've sworn they came this way. She looked around and frowned. There was nothing but portraits on the wall and a couple of doors which Lily knew were locked. Scratching her head, her confused expressions shifted into her face. She caught sight of mistletoe and backed away a few steps. Then she shrugged and walked away, fully intending to finish her rounds and getting to bed. 

"Whoa, haha, I thought she was going to catch us for sure! Imagine what her hexes could do!" Sirius leaned against the back of a portrait they had just slipped through. 

"Yea, I know," James laughed. He licked his lips and his smile grew wider. He could still taste her and felt the light tingle lingering there. Then he groaned, "She's going to kill me tomorrow." 

"Wasn't it worth it, though? Aw, don't say it wasn't. I saw how much you liked it," Sirius teased and grinned. He took out a pouch from his robes and held it up in front of his face. "Let's get going. I want to see if this stuff we bought works. Heh, Filch'll be perfect. C'mon." 

James took the pouch and proceeded to lead the way to Filch's office. This is going to be good, he thought.

Lily twiddled with the funny gold string in her hands. She had confiscated them from some boys who were torturing a cat with it. "Vary String," she mumbled absently. She knew how it worked; she had a silver one herself. The string could turn into whatever length and whatever strength one desired. She could manipulate it to do whatever she wanted. It was like an extension of her mind.

She looked at the string and thought. She didn't need it and she didn't need it to fall into the hands of nasty little children like those boys back there either. She shrugged and started to walk to Filch's office. He'd be happy to see it. 

"Okay, shut up, Padfoot and hide. I think he's coming." James stood by the door with a Static Yo-Yo in his hands. He planned to give it to Filch and make him go into his office where Sirius would make sure the powder would hit him full force. 

Everything was in place, but the person that came walking down the hall wasn't Filch. It was Lily. James jumped and looked around for a hiding place. Before he could properly turn around and run, strings shot out and held him. 

"Where're you going?" Lily stood a few feet away from him, string wounded around her fingers on her right hand. She gave a tug and James came stumbling towards her. He stopped just enough to keep from crashing in. He grinned uneasily and tried to speak, but Lily got there first. 

"Oh, is that a Static Yo-Yo? For Filch, right? That's great, I've got these Vary Strings here," she waved her hand and James tumbled into her. She pushed him away and continued to speak, "C'mon. I'm dropping this off. You should too. And _then _I'll hex you into oblivion." She dragged him to Filch's door despite all his protests and reasoning. She just thought he was acting weird again. 

Lily heard a noise from behind the door. Thinking it was Filch, she rapped the door twice to announce her arrival. She swung the door open. Surprisingly, she received a face full of sparkly powder. Coughing, she tried desperately to wave it away, strings completely forgotten. From behind her, she could hear James urgently telling her not to breathe it in. But the powder was getting into her eyes, blinding her. She breathed it in against her will and it choked her. 

Sirius bolted with a lungful of air, hoisted Lily over his shoulder, and darted out the door. When he reached the safety of fresh air, he stopped short and kneeled on the stone floor. He breathed in deeply. Looking down, he became aware of a slight squirming in his arms. Eyes disbelieving, he looked from the small bundle and up to James. James looked equally surprised and motioned for him to find out what was there. 

Sirius carefully took aside the layers of robes and when he came close to taking off the last piece of fabric obscuring their view, a hand reached out and yanked his hair. 

"ARGH!" Sirius dropped the bundle and rubbed his head. Peaking out from under the layers of black, a petite little redhead blinked at him. He reached out, wanting to grab her, but she pulled back. "Come here, kid." 

She looked fearfully at him and took a few steps back.  "Mo-mommy said not to talk to s-strangers." James came up behind her and scooped her into his arms. Making her look at him he asked, "Lily??" Lily's bottom lip quivered then she bit hard into his hand. James yelped and dropped her. She gave a final kick to Sirius's shin before dashing down the hall with her oversized robes trailing after her. 

It took Sirius and James some time before administrating what had happened. They weren't quite sure if they were dreaming or not. Sirius had enough nerve to grin and say the powder worked. James had given him a withering look before running after the little girl. 

They followed the sound of little pants and they were sure they were about to reach her. They turned a corner and WHAM! 

James saw stars. He took a closer look and what he saw wasn't nearly as pretty as stars. It was Filch's snarling face glaring at him. James thought fast and thrust the Cloak at Sirius before turning back to face the gangly man. 

"What are you doing 'ere?" Filch said in his croaky, flat voice. 

"Er…" James thought hard and stuffed his hand into his pocket. The Static Yo-Yo! "I was doing Head Boy duty and ah…Here! to add to your collection of confiscated material. Oh, and also…Vary String! I know you don't have that – I mean, I'm sure you'd like this." Filch was too busy admiring his new items to notice James's ill-picked words. He gave a slight grunt of thanks before limping off in the direction of his office. 

James let out a sigh of relief. Sirius threw off the Cloak and rubbed his cheek. "Take better aim next time, will ya? First my ribs, and then the hair and now my face; I'd like to keep these gorgeous features for a while, okay? Now, where's that brat?"

James strained for any noise of panting or tiny pitters of her footsteps. He shook his head. "I think we lost her, Padfoot."

Sirius grunted. "I don't think so." He transformed and sniffed the ground. Taking a few steps in one direction, he bounded for the other in a split moment. James ran after him and they slipped through rooms and corridors. They finally halted at the mouth of a hall lined with suits of armour. A little figure was walking towards the other end of the hall. She looked at the armour with every step. She seems a bit frightened. 

The two walked cautiously up to her. Just when they thought they had her, she whirled around to face them. Lily gave a little squeak. She turned to run, but collided into a knight's leg. It tipped over and fell like dominos to the next one. Lily skidded and kept on running with Sirius and James at her tail, avoiding falling pieces of armour along the way. 

A battle axe headed straight for Lily's head. She looked up in time to scream. Not being able to do anything else, she looked away and squeezed her eyes shut. 

Hey guys, thanks for reading. My writing skills are sort of at the brink of average, but I hoped you liked it anyway. Now, be a nice reader and review for me, k? I like all sorts, so be it good or be it bad, give me your comments and opinions! 


	2. What Now?

Disclaimer: Don't own a thing.

Chapter 2: What now?

Sirius growled and held the girl at arm's length away from him but Lily still managed to reach over and pull his hair. "Stop it!!" He hissed and tried to pry her hands off his silk hair only to get her more wound up in it. Sirius wanted to just drop her and force her to let go. The moment he did, however, she clutched her arms tightly around his neck and refused to let go. He groaned and looked at James. "This is completely unfair. Why isn't she doing this to you?"

James casually ran a hand through his hair and smirked, "My good looks blind her. She can't lay a finger on me." 

Sirius rolled his eyes and once again attempted to detach himself from the clinging girl. Lily's arms had become limp and she was slowly sliding down Sirius's body. Sirius caught her before she went any lower and was about to tell her off until he noticed that the bright emerald orbs were no long looking back at him. Lily was asleep. 

Sirius sighed. This has gone on waaay too long. 

When they finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, Sirius hid Lily underneath his school cloak. He told her the password, and before they had walked through, the Fat Lady laughed and said, "Sneaking in food from the kitchens again, are we?" Sirius looked confused for a split second and then his face broke into a dazzling smile. 

"Yea, we are. You won't tell, would you, darling?" Sirius winked. The Fat Lady giggled and shook her head. 

"Thank you so, so much, milady." James bowed to her and blew her a kiss. The Fat Lady blushed and motioned for them to go as she disappeared from her portrait. 

James and Sirius poked their heads into their dorm. They could faintly make out Peter turning in his bed, mumbling softly - probably another nightmare. James walked in and tossed his Invisibility Cloak in his trunk. He stripped down to his boxers as he walked over to the head of his bed. Before he could get in, Sirius made a little noise that called for attention. He was pointedly gesturing to the little bundle that he had. 

"Oh, her…" James scratched his head. 

"Yes, _her," Sirius whispered. He tugged a little and she stirred. "What am I supposed to do with her?" _

"How am I supposed to know? You got yourself into this, get yourself out."

"Me?! You're equally responsible." Their voices were above a whisper and rising. 

"What?! How am _I _equally responsible?"

"She's _your lover."_

 "Yeesh! You wanted to test out the powder and now we have. It worked. Good job. Maybe we'll go get some more the next time we're in Diagon Alley, but right now, I'd like to get some sleep. She can sleep with me tonight but tomor-"

"Mmph…" Lily was rubbing her eyes and she yawned. She blinked and looked back and forth from the two boys. Then she tapped her chin. "I forgot to brush my teeth!" she stated happily. 

The two stared at her and Sirius let her down. Lily looked around, taking in all that she saw in the moonlight. This new place was very messy, with scattered clothing every where. There only seemed to be one fairly clean corner over at one of the beds, but right now she couldn't care less. 

"Where's the bathroom?" 

Lily came out of the bathroom, teeth brushed, face washed, bladder emptied, and hands scrubbed. She found it hard to walk properly without tripping over her new clothes. Sirius had given her one of James's t-shirts and a pair of his own boxers. She looked around and wondered where she would sleep. Surely the boys that saved her life would not want her to sleep on the floor, although the piles of clothing looked rather comfy. 

Carefully and quietly, Lily went over to the closest bed. She saw a patch of messy light hair and lifted the blankets a smidge. A small framed boy slept in this one. He gave a great turn. Lily jumped back and ran to the next one. On her way, she tripped and head butted the person in bed. She blinked and rubbed her head. Whose back was that? Sirius! Reaching over, she gave a gentle tug of his hair. Sirius turned to face her as he readjusted his pillow. He smiled a little and messed up her hair. Then he pointed to the bed by the window. Lily smiled widely. 

Stumbling over, the little girl dove under the fluffy covers and breathed in deeply. It smelled really nice. Squirming, she turned to the other person in the bed. James's back was facing her and she had to poke him to get his attention. It appeared that he had already fallen asleep in the short period of time when she was in the bathroom. He rolled over and rubbed his eyes. Lily stretched out her arms and James took this as a sign of wanting to be hugged. Little or not, acknowledged or not, he loved this girl. James chuckled softly. He took her in and told her to go to sleep.

The next morning dawned very bright and frosty. An irritated Remus turned in bed to avoid the streak of weak sunlight that crept in from the space between his hangings. He tried to bury himself deeper into the warmth of his blankets, but despite how tired and emotionally drained he felt, his animal instincts told him to get up as usual. He heard the water run in the bathroom, which surprised him since he was always the first one up. Not thinking too much about it, he got up and walked sleepily towards it. 

The door open and Remus found himself face to face with....nothing. He felt something brush past his leg and when he looked down he saw a bundle of red and black. Groggily, he walked into the bathroom and began to wash his face. Half way between brushing his teeth, he quickly spat out the foam, and jerked his head above the sink. He rinsed out his mouth. Frowning, he stepped out of the bathroom. 

"Hey guys, have you seen –" 

Remus felt his jaw go slack. What the heck is a little girl doing jumping on James's bed? James's arm was out in the air trying to swat the girl away, but the girl caught it and kept jumping while swinging the arm up and down. Finally, James gave in and sat up. He looked around and his eyes fell on Remus. 

"Oh....hey Remus....up already?" James yawned hugely and scratched his head. 

"What's the girl doing in here?" Remus had a finger pointed at the little girl. His eyes were narrowed with suspicion. 

"Oh, this? She's...she's my...that is to say...uh..." James blinked at his words. 

What was he supposed to say? Remus had already told them he disapproved of the powder the night before and said that if he ever caught them using it, he'd turn them in for sure. Why Remus was so serious over a little bit of powder when all their other pranks were huge by comparison was beyond him. Perspiration gathered on James's forehead. Remus raised an eye brow and their eyes met. Then James knew that he knew. 

"James, please don't tell me-" 

"Remus, it's not-" 

Sirius chose that exact moment to wake up. He bounded out of bed and stretched. Then he looked around and wondered why it was so quiet. Remus was staring at little Lily and James was looking quite distressed. Almost immediately, Sirius understood the situation. Clapping his hand on Remus's shoulder he said in a cheery voice, 

"Hey, Remus, mate, have you met my cousin? Cute, isn't she?" 

The tension in the air seemed to have evaporated. Remus gave a small smile and went over to Lily. Sirius, seeing nothing was remotely wrong anymore, headed for the bathroom. At first Lily shrank away from Remus's touch, but he had an air about him that told her everything was alright with him. He caught her little hands and spoke softly to her, "Sirius's cousin, huh? What's your name?"

Before James could clamp a hand over Lily's mouth, the words fell from her lips. 

"Lily Evans." James gave up. He groaned and smashed his face into his pillow. It was definitely way too early for such a predicament. 

Remus smiled then and took Lily into his arms. He turned to James, who was peeking at him from his pillow. Remus had a strangely calm expression and simply said, "I'm taking her to Dumbledore."

He headed for the door with Lily silently in his arms. She was afraid she had done something wrong. James had been so quiet and now he sat numbly in bed staring after them. She looked at him for reassurance, but their eyes never met. Lily looked up at the boy carrying her. This Remus person was very nice, yes, but it was also something about him that frightened her to good behavior. 

James only needed a second to regain his senses. Angrily, he sprang off his bed. 

"What the heck are you doing?!" James took Remus's shoulder and whirled him around. He was surprised to see Remus's face contorted with equal frustration and rage. It startled him to realization to just how serious Remus was. James lifted his hand and whispered with slight concern, fear and confusion, "What is it?"

"You guys did this to her without thinking of the consequences. Have you ever thought that you might not be able to turn her back?"

"What? What do you mean? Of course we can turn her back...the stuff's supposed to wear off, right?" James was getting irritated. Where was this leading to again?

"How am I supposed to know?! It's not like I bought it."

"Relax! What's the big deal? It's only a joke," James retorted. 

"It's _not a joke. Doing this on other people's expense is _wrong._" Remus glared at him._

"But last night, you made it out as if it was a normal thing. Besides the over exaggerated warning, everything was normal! I thought we could count on you to tell us if something was the matter!" James threw up his hands and made big gestures. His face was red and, without his glasses, he looked slightly wilder than usual. 

"I so happen to know that if possible, reverting her back to her normal state will be very difficult! And WHAT was last night, anyway? I thought I could count on both of _you_! Did either of you happen to look up at the sky last night?! It was a full moon, damnit! And _you_ weren't there! Oh, but I guess that doesn't matter now, does it? And that's because none of you ever listen to me anyway!" Remus broke the surface of the shouting level. 

Peter stirred in bed at the sudden added volume in the room. He groaned and disappeared further into his bed. He had a rough night and he so wanted to have more sleep. What a racket, he thought. 

James's eyes bulged. He didn't mean to forget. 

"Remus, I swear...we didn't mean to…" James couldn't finish. He hung his head. How can so many things go wrong in one night? It was the first time in his life that he missed the transformation for any other reason besides Head Boy duty or detention and even then Sirius and Peter were with Remus.

Seeing Remus now, he felt horribly guilty. How angry and lonely Remus must've felt, he couldn't imagine. James and Sirius had been too excited about the new powder they had gotten at a gypsy's booth in Diagon Alley. They had the easiest, simplest, and perfect plan. He hadn't bothered to stop and think what day it was. In fact, he didn't even remember telling Remus they would be out doing some marauding that night. 

"Doesn't matter, James...we can't do anything about that anymore. But this, we can."

"No...No, we can't...I-we can fix it...don't go to Dumbledore."

"Grown Down Gleam is illegal, James. It's worse than Obliviating someone," Remus said quietly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" James asked. He glanced up to see if Remus would answer. But when he looked up, he found that Remus had already taken off. Cursing, he ran out the door. He scrambled back a minute later, picked up a pair of pants from the floor and mad-dashed for Dumbledore's office again. 

Thanks to:

**Demoness**** Mark: I'm glad you liked it! Quoting my profile, are we? Ha ha, I really think and I probably will improve. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Thank you~**

**Emma Halliwell:** If I didn't put a cliffhanger, you wouldn't have wanted to read on as much, now would you? Thanks for reviewing!

**Empress Guinevere Sparrow: **Wow, long name you've got there. Thank you for saying I have great potential, but I still think I'm pretty average. I'm glad I captured the character's spirits right. I hope you didn't have to wait too long for this chapter. Thank you!

**frozenwithin****: You sense greatness coming? Why, thanks!! I'm glad you like my writing style, hope I haven't kept you waiting for too long. Thank you very much for reviewing. **

**HarryGryffinGirl****: Haha, it's really not that bad for Lily. At least she won't get in trouble for any of this. Thanks for reviewing~**

**Jediknickers****: Well, chapter 2 is up now, so you're stuck waiting for chapter 3! Thanks for saying I'm great and all, but really, c'mon you guys, I'm not _that _great...haha**

**JerseyGirl03: **Glad you like the plot! I really hope this was soon enough for you. I'll try and update faster. Thanks!

**Jupiter-jazz: **Yep, it's cute! Did you like this chapter?

**little-lost-one****: Thanks, I'll really work on making this even better.**

**magnetic-starfish****: Thank you for your compliments! Well, that was chapter 2! Get ready for chapter 3~**

**Ms. James Potter: **Thank you so much!

**MWPP: **Yep! Lily's gotta watch out, alright. Thanks for reviewing!

**nikki****: I should and I will! Thanks!**

**Sharon H:** Thanks, bud! I love Sirius too!! XD I'll write as long as you read!

**Rowlingfan1: **Soon is always too soon for me. Haha, I'll try my best. Thank you!

**wordwiz8121: **Cliffhangers do suck...

**zel****: Lazy bum. If you're tired, then don't read it! Haha, thanks for trying to stay awake through this anyway. **

Thank you to all those who read and reviewed and even those who read but didn't review. I really had to sit down, think, and write this one because no brainstorms seem to want to hit me this time. I'm sorry if it was a long wait. I hope you enjoyed my efforts. 


	3. Methinks We've Found a Solution

Chapter 3: Methinks We've Found a Solution

Sirius climbed out of a portrait hole just as James appeared behind a tapestry, dusting himself off on the other side of the hall. He looked over to Sirius and asked, "Did you find him?" Sirius shook his head. They sighed. 

Sirius had come out of the shower that morning to hear James out of breath and pounding on the bathroom door. When learning what had happened, he suggested they skip the day's classes and look for Remus and if they couldn't find him then they'd look for the gypsy. Peter was left in charge of informing the teacher that they were terribly sick in bed. 

One took the North and East Wing while the other took the South and West Wing, they looked all morning in every nook, hole, and cranny. Coming together and finding nothing was a big disappointment considering they pretty much knew the school inside and out. 

"Suppose Remus really did find Dumbledore," James pointed out quietly. 

"He'd never do that," Sirius objected firmly. 

"How would you know?" James put on a bitter face.

"Because, Prongs, he's a Marauder. And being a Marauder means we stick together. Thick and thin, mate." Sirius glanced at him, looking for reassurance that he was right. James's face softened and he smirked. "Let's head for Hogsmeade, Padfoot, and find that old woman that sold us this trouble."

"Mr. Pettigrew, alone today, are we?" the Potions teacher's voice resonated from the front of the class. Slytherins snickered and whispered among themselves. Peter calmly met his professor's gaze. 

"James and Sirius are unwell today, ma'am. And as for Remus – I'd thought you'd know." Peter put on the most sincere smile at Professor Silva who immediately flushed red and continued on with her lesson. 

Peter sighed and resumed taking notes. Every so often, he performed a duplicating spell three times and stuffed the notes in his huge bag that was already straining at the seams. Sometimes he wondered why he did the things he did. 

Upon directions from Zonko's, James and Sirius ended up standing in front of an creepy looking store. The outside was worn down and the windows were dusty. When they looked in them, they could hardly see what was on the other side. Gripping the handle of the creaky door, they pushed their way in. 

Smells of incense, preservations, and dry herbs filled their senses. The cramped store had books and parchments everywhere with scented candles lit all around them. James and Sirius tried as best they could to be careful as they made their way to the back room. 

Sirius knocked over a pile of ancient books which, in turn, knocked over a burning candle. He coughed as a cloud of dust floated upwards. His fast reflexes allowed him to catch the books before they hit the ground and James on his part, caught the candle. 

James was surprised. The flame didn't burn him. It merely turned blue and went out as soon as it touched his palm. He set it back in place and immediately, an orange light began to burn as its wick. 

"What business of yours brings you to Zima?" a hoarse voice boomed. The two stiffened and stopped moving. "Answer!" 

James looked around trying to figure out where the voice had come from. The light was dim and he couldn't see much. Clearing his throat, he spoke, "We – uh, we met you on the streets of Diagon Alley where you sold us a sachet of Grown Down Gleam. We hear it's illegal and now we've come for an antidote for the girl we've cast the spell on." 

A gust of wind blew out the candles and the floorboards creaked. "Sought me out, have you?" the voice rasped. It laughed and with a snap of her fingers, the candles burst into light. A short, stumpy, old woman limped out from behind a bookcase. Her face was folded with years of age and her eyes crinkled with unnatural wisdom. She came further into the light. 

"Grown Down Gleam. Yes." Zima disappeared into the backroom and reappeared again with two pouches in her hands. Holding them out and opened, she commanded, "Look closely now, boys. Tell me which of these I sold to you." 

Sirius and James leaned in and looked carefully at the powdered substance that was nearly identical save for its colour. One was blue and the other purple. "It...it wasn't..." James started, shaking his head. 

"It was neither," Sirius confirmed. 

"Neither, you say?" the old woman mused. 

"That's right," Sirius answered. He then reached into both pouches quickly and withdrew with a handful of each. "It was more like this." He brought his hands together and allowed the powder to mix. It ran through his fingers as he showed the old her.

Zima disposed of the sacks with a flick of her wrists. "Interesting," she croaked. Her back hunching, she shuffled over to a cabinet. She looked over the contents in it and then shook her head. "I do not have the ingredients you need."

James took a step forward. "Then tell us how to make this potion." A book was shoved immediately under his nose, making him sneeze. A quill and paper appeared and began to write on its own as the old shopkeeper read from the pages. She slammed the book shut when she was done. Rolling up the parchments, she waved it warningly in front of their faces.

"Do not lose this," she instructed, "for the next time you seek me out, I will not be so easily found. This potion is only to be used once – it can not be remade. It lasts for forty-eight hours and within this timeframe, you must convince the victim to fully wish to be grown up again. You yourselves must also keep this in mind. If only for a second your thoughts are synchronized, her transformation will begin. If time expires before your task is complete, then there is nothing more I can do for you." 

James and Sirius nodded absently as they scanned the list of ingredients. It was clear that they were going to have to work hard for what they needed. Sirius glanced up at the woman to thank her and was taken aback by what he saw. She was becoming translucent as was the rest of the store. He nudged James and they watched as the last of her faded way and they were left standing in an alley that led to an open road. 

The kitchen was busy with house elves running around and scurrying to get dinner ready for the school. Steam flooded in from various places as food was brought forth, ready and delicious. Two Gryffindors snuck in from a trapdoor and into the hustle and bustle of the school's faithful little workers. Sirius picked up a chocolate muffin from a tray and James picked up a slice of apple pie from a silver platter as they walked past the house elves making desserts. 

Jumping out of the portrait hole, James took a bite out of his apple pie and frowned. 

"Don't like it for some reason," he mumbled. Sirius laughed. 

"Here," Sirius sighed and stuck his dessert out, "chocolate muffin, it's your favourite."

"Alright, thanks, mate!" They traded and made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. 

Desserts gone and parchment carefully stored in Sirius's pocket, the boys entered their common room. What James saw almost made him leap with joy. There was Remus, sitting in the far corner of the room, hidden from almost everyone's view, with Lily on his lap. He was pointing at the stars outside and saying something to her that made her mouth drop with awe. 

"Remus, where have you been all morning?!" 

Remus turned away from the window, smiled apologetically, and shrugged. James was jumpy and wouldn't stop talking. 

"You're not going to answer me, are you? Look, I'm sorry about this morning, but do you know how worried I was all day? I tried really hard to calm myself today. Sirius kept telling me you wouldn't tell but then again what if you got a hold of Dumbledore and told him everything and got us expelled and then where would that land us? But of course, I knew you wouldn't but then again, what _if_?! I - oh, how's Lily by the way?" 

Sirius raised an eyebrow and exchanged looks with Remus. 'Chocolate muffin,' he mouthed. Remus nodded as if he understood. Then he turned to James.

"Um, okay. I didn't find Dumbledore, but I did run into Madame Pomfrey," Remus explained. He sighed and shifted Lily who was leaning too far out the window. "Apparently, she didn't like the idea of me sneaking out of the Hospital Wing last night. She tried to get me back in bed. And it was such a pain to explain Lily."

"She saw?! What did you say?"

"Oh, I told her she was my little sister and my parents had to send her here for Christmas." Sirius stared at him.

"Don't tell me she _believed _you," Sirius said. 

"Well, uh, I wouldn't know. I took off before she could say anything to me," Remus admitted sheepishly. Lily laughed and whirled around to face them. She spread her arms to emphasize what she was about to say.

"Yea! And we ran and ran and ran! Then this BIG ghost popped out and I screamed so loud and we ran and ran again! Whee! Haha!" Sirius ruffled her hair and she took his hand. Then she said excitedly, "Padfoooot! Did you know?! Sirius is the brightest brightest star in the sky!! Remus said so! It's even brighter than the sun! Can you believe it?!" Sirius smiled with pride and took her in his arms. She gasped happily when he easily lifted her above his head. He switched places with Remus and took a seat.

"And you know where Sirius is?" he asked her, pointing out the window. "It's right at the foot of Canis Major. You can't see it right now, maybe sometime next month. But y'know, Sirius is one of Orion's hunting dogs along with Procyon. One day..."

James and Remus watched as Sirius told the story of how the Dog Star came to have its place in the sky. "He looks like he's better with kids than I am...and considering I have so many younger siblings..." Remus said. James nodded, still looking on. 

"Hey, listen. Sirius and I went back to that place again today," James said quietly. "We got the instructions on how to make this thing but we need a bit of help getting the ingredients. Do you think you could – "

"I'll help," Remus assured him. James smiled and began to head back to their dorm. "James, wait." James turned back and looked questioningly at Remus. "This morning..." James snorted and waved his hand dismissively before disappearing up the stairs.  

When Sirius saw James walking away out of the corner of his eye, he quickly wrapped up his myth and set Lily down. "Did you like the story?" he asked her. Lily nodded happily. Sirius smiled. "Good then. Let Prongs put you to bed, okay?" 

"What about you?" Lily asked sleepily.

"I've got some stuff to do and the sooner I get it done, the better. So you go have yourself some sweet dreams, okay?" He tweaked her nose and sent her up the stairs.

When Lily and James had both disappeared, Sirius turned to Remus and tossed him the rolled up parchment. 

"Moony, could you get Wormtail to look up where I can get this stuff? 'Cause honestly, I don't know what half the ingredients needed are and you and I both know we know a lot. I also know Wormtail's good with books and he'll probably get me what I need by the time I get out of the shower or something – Merlin knows how he does it. Get some sleep after that, would you, Remus? You're getting rings under your eyes again." Sirius started up the stairs, taking off his robe and his shirt as he went. Remus yawned and went to get Peter.  

"Hey, Peter," said Sirius as he swiped a Christmas cookie from the pile of pastry and chocolates that surrounded Peter and his books. 

"Hey," Peter mumbled back. He scribbled something on his parchment and bit into his chocolate biscuit before he stuffed it into his mouth and used his free hand to dig in his bag. He pulled out a tattered old book with its spine falling apart. Without even looking up, he tossed it at Sirius.

Sirius had his wand whipped out in a second and before the book had made an arc, he had already muttered a spell to keep it levitating in front of him. Leaning back, he examined the book. He clapped his hand and turned to Peter.

"Thanks. Where?"

"Chapter four, page one hundred sixty three, starting second paragraph, three lines down." Then Peter threw a few more books that were already bookmarked. 

"Thanks a bunch."

"Mmhmm..." Peter waved a careless hand and continued with his homework and eating. 

Sirius worked with the book, conjuring parchments and a quill along with a bottle of ink. He wrote things down and read furiously for what seemed like the first time in his life. The subject confused him which is probably why he didn't take it up in sixth year when he had had the chance. But he forced himself to learn now. 

Putting down his quill, Sirius looked over what he'd written. Frowning at some newfound problem, he flipped through the pages he'd been reading again. 

"References to chapter four...?" he asked Peter suddenly.

"Try last chapter first side column," Peter answered almost immediately. Sirius was impressed. The little guy was just full of surprises. 

Sirius found what he needed and was once again grateful for Peter. He scratched a few more things down and paused. Peter began to pack up his work. He left some food on the table and gestured to Sirius to take some if he felt hungry. They exchanged nods and Peter went up the stairs. 

When Peter was walking up the stairs, Lily came slowly down. She looked at Peter as she passed by and then at his bulging bag. Peter turned back and tossed her a candy cane. She grinned at him and continued her way down. 

It wasn't until Lily was right in front of him before he noticed her. She carefully removed the plastic from the end of her candy cane and stuck it in her mouth. She attempted to climb the couch, but failed miserably. Sirius nearly laughed out loud before pushing his parchments away and picking her up. To thank him, she broke the curve of the cane and offered it to him. 

"Mm...hey, Lil, what're you doing down here?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"Eh? Why?"

"Prongs snoooores," she whined. 

"No, he doesn't," Sirius disagreed. 

"Well, he _is_ today." Sirius shrugged. After a moment, she asked him, "Are you done?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I am. Right when you came down." Sirius looked curiously at her when she got rid of the candy cane and wiped her mouth clean. She then proceeded to crawl onto his lap and bury her face into his chest. "Good. Tell me about Canis Minor now, Padfoot," she mumbled softly. 

Sirius chuckled and got comfortable. There was a pause and they listened to the fire crackle. He lifted his wand and delivered all his parchments and books back to his dorm. "Alright," he said, "But I might just fall asleep telling you about it." 

She was silent and he thought she'd fallen asleep. A gentle sigh startled him and her eyes locked on with his. "Well then," she said acutely, "you better not snore."

Thanks to: 

**Angelxd14:** Thank you so, ultra much for reviewing my fic! I'm still trying to improve myself so if you have any comments whatsoever, please feel free to tell me!

**Chicken Stars:** I could only hope that this is still interesting enough to capture people's attention. I'm sorry I couldn't update fast, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless. Thanks!

**frozenwithin****:** Yea, the chapter's changed a lot, only because I wanted it to look better. I hope you liked it regardless. Thanks a bunch for reviewing ^_^

**ravengirl****: **I think I get this every time from one person or another...my verb tenses. Haha, I'll try to get that fixed. Thanks for your great comments!

**Sharon H.: **Hey, thanks! You should write your own fic too! It's only through other authors that I was so inspired, so if you feel like doing it, then go for it! I'll review!

**Tiger12:** I'm glad you love Remus, isn't he the greatest? Sorry for the long wait and thanks for the review!

Thank you very much to those who reviewed and those who read. I'm sorry it took forever for me to update, but for a while, I just didn't want to write anything. If you have any comments or suggestions, they're all very welcomed. Please have a merry Christmas and the happiest holiday yet! =)

Love and hugs,

icemint


	4. We've hit a Snag

Chapter 4: We've hit a Snag

Disclaimer: Don't own a thing. 

Be Prepared for a LOOOOONG chapter!

"She's doing it again," Remus whispered to Sirius as he dropped bat wings into a cauldron. Sirius looked up from his parchment, sugar quill in his mouth as he sucked, looking thoughtful. He was constantly being prodded by Remus whenever Lily did something out of the ordinary. He rubbed his eyes a bit and yawned. After spending the entire week hunting for exotic ingredients and ancient translations for the counter curse it was safe to say that he was a tad tired. If only Peter hadn't pushed and nagged about it all the time...sheez.

Within this timeframe, they had learned that Lily's favourite dessert was strawberry pudding, she didn't like the smell of orange peels, and that her kind mother's name was Mina. The past few days were eventful as they tried to get her to take a bath because honestly, she needed one. Lily had also taken her rights in making best friends with the kitchen's chief chef, Marie. 

Both looked over at Lily who was sitting by the window watching James trying various spells and muttering incantations. He was sitting in his favourite cushion chair in the Head's common room. They could tell that he, too, was tired and couldn't help but get frustrated when a charm didn't come out quite the way he had expected it. Behind, Lily's lips were mouthing the words right along with him. When she noticed she was being watched, she glanced shyly at Sirius and Remus before turning back to look out the window. 

People were playing in the snow outside and having snowball fights. Lily was watching a particular couple laughing and chasing each other around. She looked on as they ran out of her line of vision and used her little hand to push open the window. 

"Come away from there, will you? You might catch a cold and then what'll we do?" Lily turned to smile and latched onto Remus's arm. She took another lingering look out the window which he noticed. He pulled her away and led her back to the table.

Near lunch, Peter began to ask about the progress of the counter-curse. "When're you going to finish it?"

"Don't rightly know..." Sirius mumbled into his quill.

"Can we work on it now?"

"If you want," James muttered. He blasted a paper ball. 

"So what have we done so far?"

"Stuff."

"What do you mean by-" Finally, it was Remus that couldn't take it anymore.

"Peter, why don't you review spells or something?" Peter opened his mouth to protest, but shut it immediately and did as he was told. 

"_Lumos_," he said, rather bored. "_Lumos lumos lumos luuuumos!_ _NOX!_" The spark on the wand grew brighter and brighter and suddenly it popped loudly and burnt out much to Lily's delight. 

Lily snuck a look beside her at Sirius who was twirling his quill distractedly and mumbling to himself which way was best to finish off the last inch of his assignment. Carefully, she reached for his wand. Holding it in front of her as discreetly as possible, she whispered, "_L-lumos_." Nothing happened. Her eyebrows furrowed and she tried again. Remus had begun to notice her and was reaching to take the wand from her.

"_LUMOS!_" she cried with much force. Remus was startled and jerked his hand back. James, Sirius, and Peter snapped their head towards her at the sudden outburst. Their eyes widened at what they saw. Sirius's wand was alit. 

"Did you see that? Did you see that?" Sirius asked excitedly. "With _my_ wand, I might add."

"I taught her the incantation!" Peter quipped. 

The light at the tip of the wand sizzled out and Lily looked around the table at each of their faces looking quite proud. James ruffled her hair and squeezed her shoulder. Remus took the wand from her and set it on the table far away from her. 

"You could've been hurt," he scolded. Lily's smile faded. She looked away. 

"I'm sorry." 

"Hey now...no scolding," James cut in.  "Our little marauderess was doing what we usually do anyway."

"I wasn't – I was just ..."

"Yea, you were worried. We know, Remus. You're not the only one that cares," Sirius said. "There isn't a need to be worried anyway. My wand's never hurt a soul." 

Peter stood and rubbed his stomach. "Guys, if we're not going to work, can we go have some lunch please? I'm starving." 

The house elves greeted them as usual. Tibbles appeared to be a new elf. He was scurrying back and forth at the older and more experienced elves' beck and call.  He finally slowed down enough to notice that there were humans at their entrance. Halting quite abruptly, he straightened and faced them. 

"Oh-oh, masters and lil'miss! P-please!" he fumbled, "Sit! Sit!" He bowed to Lily who was about his height. To his great surprise and astonishment, she bowed back and with a gesture of a curtsey, no less! Tibbles froze on the spot and stumbled over his words again. "Oh no! Lil'miss. No, no! Tibble does not deserve...please miss..." 

Tibbles was still gibbering as the Marauders steered Lily away. James nudged Remus and smirked. "Taught her that," he gloated.

"And gave poor Tibbles a near heart-attack," Remus said, rolling his eyes. James punched him and stuck out his tongue. 

Once seated, they politely called out what they each wanted and moments later, steaming food was placed before them by none other than Tibbles himself. 

"T-tibbles hopes they likes it. T-tibbles is new, master. If master and lil'miss be needing anyt-"

"We'll be fine, Tibbles," Remus smiled. Tibbles seemed startled at being addressed so warmly. "I'm sure the food will be delicious." Tibbles's face was suddenly overtaken by a cutely wide grin. His round eyes had lit at the very comment. He bowed one more time before skipping off to do more work. 

It was about the time when Lil had finished her soup that Tibbles walked by. 

"Might lil'miss be needing more soup? Tibbles can pour more."

"Oh, yes please, Tibbles." Lily was in the middle of handing her bowl to him when sudden Marie's stern voice had called for Tibbles to come quick. Tibbles withdrew his outstretched arms and turn swiftly in the direction of Marie. He looked back and Lily and stammered, "Tibbles is truly s-sorry, lil'miss. Please, there is more soup up on the stove. Do be careful, lil'miss." He ran off faster than lightening after that.

Lily blinked. She looked from her empty bowl to the rest of her companions around the table. They were laughing loudly and were occupied with a very engaging topic. They didn't appear to notice her needs nor did they pay any attention when she got off the chair and walked to the stove to the cooking pot on top of it. 

She reached for the ladle sticking out of the large pot. She grasped it, fist barely covering the handle while standing dangerously on the tip toes. In an attempt to get a better grip, she lost her balance and came slamming back on her heels. The powerful force of it knocked the ladle to the side of the pot and sent it leaning ground ward. 

Lily panicked and quickly did the only thing she could think of. Her left hand smacked firmly to the side of the cylinder and shoved upwards. At the moment of contact, she let out a piercing scream. 

Sirius was the first to react. Dropping his food, he ran over and picked her up. James came and pried the ladle out of her right hand. 

"Oi...you little brat! Quick! Water! Put water over it!" Sirius yelled.

"NO! You idiot! Stop!" Remus seized Lily and lead her quickly to the window where a row of potted planted were. He took a part of the leaf from the plant. Squeezing, something came out and onto Lily's hand. She breathed heavily and then stopped clenching her teeth as Remus spread the jelly-like substance across her palm. 

"The heck is that..." Sirius asked. 

"Aloe."

"A who?" 

"This stuff. You can eat it too if you want. Noo...not the leaf – the stuff _inside_. Haha, not very good, is it? But it's healthy. It's also good for burns like this." 

"Oh..." Sirius let out as he poked the little plant. Then he flicked it and turned back to Lily.

"How's your hands?" James asked her, kissing the back of her hand. 

"Hurts," she whispered back, rubbing her eyes. James wiped her cheeks and set her back on her chair. Remus handed him some bandages he got from Marie and he began to put it around Lily's little hand. Tibbles was standing at the corner apologizing profusely and almost bowing on the floor by the time Peter went up to him to stop him. 

"Thanks so much for caring," Sirius said sardonically when he reached Peter at one of the counters. 

"What? I was making some fudge so she'd feel better, dummy," Peter said defensively. 

"Ooooh! Fudge!" Sirius dipped a finger in what was chocolate and licked. Peter shot him a look and pushed him away. "Finish up over there and I'll bring this over in a bit."

"Yes mother!" Sirius saluted and trotted off, leaving Peter to sigh and watch as he helped clear off the table in a mighty sweep. 

"That was dangerous! Why didn't you ask one of us to help instead of doing something like that?" James asked in an exasperate tone. He tied a little knot at the ends of the bandage and patted her hand, giving a light kiss before looking at her again. Lily wrenched her hand away, frowning at him.

"Stop that."

"Stop what?" James reached for her and she pulled back.

"_That_. You're always hugging me and giving me big, fat, wet kisses...like I won't last. Yucky." 

"I only do it because I'm worried."

"You don't have to worry all the time!"

"Well, I do have to worry when you do something so _stupid_!" James retorted. 

"Don't be so mean!" Lily cried angrily. "You were talking. All of you. Mommy taught me never to interrupt!"

"We wouldn't have minded!!" 

"Stop yelling at me!" Lily covered her ears and shut her eyes, pretending he wasn't there. James watched with his mouth agape. He seethed. He couldn't believe it. Everything was going fine. Then she had to go ruin it. Even when she was a kid, they still found something to argue about. He crossed his arms and bit his lip irritably. 

Remus pulled Sirius aside from the argument. He made sure Sirius had his full attention before speaking his mind.

"I want to turn her back tonight. Or at least give her the potion," Remus said somberly. Sirius scratched his head.

"Is this about what Peter said? Because if it is, listen, he nags and nags but it really doesn't mean anything. We won't get caught and we most certainly won't get in trouble. I –"

"That's not it!" Remus hissed. His gaze flickered to Lily and James for a second before turning back. "I'm tired of taking care of her. It's been a week and a half since this started and honestly, I'm exhausted. We can't keep taking turns skipping classes just to look after her. I...I don't want to see her get hurt again because we weren't responsible enough to deal with it. Do you understand?"

"Gee, Moony... I don't think we _can_ change her back tonight even if we wanted."

"Huh? Why not?"

"We're still missing Dragon's Tears. I'm not going to steal it from Professor Silva. We might as well wait until this weekend to go into Hogsmeade."

"Okay, okay, just please _please_ do it before my next transformation or preferably before I get monthly drained."

"Alright," Sirius promised. He looked back to the table and found Lily sitting there, still with her face set in an angry pout. Her eyes were drooping and her head was nodding off to sleep. "Aw man...guess it's naptime for her, huh? No fudge for me..." Sirius went over and scooped her up. Her body immediately folded up neatly and cuddled up to him. He grinned down at her.

"Prongs, don't you want to put her to bed?" Remus asked.

"No," James replied flatly. "I'm going to eat all the fudge that she's going to miss out on." Sometimes, Remus didn't know who was more childlike – Lily or James. He shook him head and followed Sirius out. 

Sirius carefully laid Lily down on the couch in the Head's tower as Remus took a blanket and covered her up. She yawned and blinked sleepily at them. Remus smiled and kissed her forehead in which her face scrunched up to. She laughed and swatted his hand when Sirius tapped her nose and whispered, "Sweet dreams." 

Lily stared amiably at the two of them kneeling beside her. There was a happiness in her eyes they had never seen before. Though tired, they knew the feeling was genuine. 

"What is it?" Sirius looked curiously at her.

"Is this...is this how daddies act?" Lily asked hesitantly. 

"W-what?" 

"You...Remus, Prongs, and Peter...all of you. Is this what daddies are like?"

"Why would you ask us that, Lily?" Remus said softly. 

"Will you always be like that?" Her voice was so faint, they barely heard it. But what she said raised a few eye brows.

"Of course! But...why would you say that?" Again, the question was asked, but there was no answer. There was a long pause. Then she flipped around to face away from them. Remus and Sirius shared a mystified look before getting up, thinking that she was too worn-out to talk anymore. Then, out of the blue, came her muffled response.

"Because I've never had one." 

Suddenly, they weren't so sure they wanted her to change back at all or at least, not soon. Sirius sighed and took her in his arms despite her protests. He saw that she had no tears and inside, he congratulated her for this. Remus didn't know quite what do say, but felt somewhat honoured that she had asked them to pose as fatherly figures in her life. A soft smile was across Lily's face as she was rocked to sleep with new joys and thoughts of trying out Peter's fudge.

****

****

**Many thanks to:**

****

**Chicken Stars: **Aww, thank you so much! You don't know how wonderful that makes me feel! I hope you found this chapter cute as well! Thanks again!

**Christy Corr:** Oi...I hadn't meant to make it sound like Lily was kissing invisible James, but oh well. Thanks for the review, I really appreciate it! Please update your fic soon too! 

**it's**** a riot: **Thanks for the terrific comments! My little cousins often visit me and they do pretty cute things that inspire me to write the things in this fic. I hope I did an okay job here. =)

**Jessie Flower: **Ahh...looks like I went snail speed at updating again. Sorry for making you wait so long! We're starting to run into some problems here because now Lily and two of the Marauders doesn't seem to like the growing up idea so much anymore. Do you smell conflict? I smell conflict...=D Thanks for reviewing!

**julyborn09:** I'll tell you a little secret. This fic'll end pretty soon after Lily is reverted back to her old self. (Oh nevermind...no secret there...) Sirius may love the kid-Lily, but only so in a brotherly way. And even if he does see her in different light after this whole ordeal, there wouldn't be much room to write up a relationship. Thanks for the opinion, though! I would never hurt Sirius more than he could handle. I love him!

**Know Thyself: **Thanks a bunch for reviewing and wishing me a happy Christmas. I hope you had a happy Valentine's Day. =) I'm glad you like my fic and how it's all playing out. Of course there'll be more! Keep reading!

**little-lost-one****: **Here's another chapter for you! Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks!

**missprongs****: **It's cute, isn't it? Just the effect I wanted! Thanks for reviewing!

**Riley: **Actually, the way I came up with this idea was pretty original too. Haha, but I'll explain that maybe later. I love your review! Thanks!

**roxorchix****: **Gotta love Sirius ^^ I hope you liked this chapter. I'm sure you'll write an awesome fic soon. And when that happens, I'll totally be there to review. =) Thanks!

**Squirrel Maiden of Green: **(Cool name) I hope you had a great Christmas and I hope you had an equally great Valentine's Day! Everyone seems to love my Sirius/Lily moments. I'm happy that this fics makes you happy!! Thanks a bundle for reviewing!

**Stableperson: **I'm glad I made the characters believable in my imaginary personalities. Thanks for the review!

**Togarrop****:**  Thank you! I'm glad you find it easy to read. I was beginning to think my chapters were too long and tedious for readers to get through. I hope you had a fantastic Valentine's Day!

Big thanks to those who read "Little Bit of Comfort." It's unlikely that anyone from there is reading here right now, but I wanted to thank you guys so I guess this has to be the place. So...thank you!

Well! That was another chapter! I feel like something's missing...this was really long and I'm sorry for all the seemingly pointless scenes. I'm also tremendously sorry for the long wait. You may yell at me in your review. So review, ok? Ha ha! I really want to know if my chapters are too long or too short or if something's lacking and you'd like me add it in. Your opinions and comments really do matter to me. Your reviews make me very happy! 

I'm also curious...who's older -Bill Weasley or Charlie Weasley? (Oh...this question is so out of context...haha. Aaargh...I was very much hoping to get this out on Valentine's Day, but I look at the time now and it's 1:07 in the morning. I've missed it! Sigh, so I hope you've all had an awesome Valentine's Day! This chapter was for you!


	5. Into Hogsmeade We Go

Chapter 5: Into Hogsmeade We Go

Disclaimer: don't own a thing

~It's my mom's birthday today! =) Whoooo!~

-

"Go on...it's alright."

"No!"

"You won't get in trouble, I promise."

"No..." Lily whispered. She glanced at the sleeping figure in the bed by the window. 

"If you don't talk to him, we're not taking you out today," Remus said firmly. Little Lily stared wide-eyed at him, her jaw slightly unhinged. She clutched his shirt tighter and tugged in disbelief. 

"B-but Remuuus..." she whined softly, "you said – you said you'd take me outside and –" Remus gave her a meaningful look and she abruptly stopped speaking. Gloomily, she crawled out of bed and shuffled over to the one nearest the window. She stopped and hesitantly looked back at Remus. Remus gave a faint smile and silently urged her on. 

"Mm...wotcha doing, Lil?" Sirius's sleepy voice mumbled. He had poked his head out of the gap in his curtains and was hanging on the backboard at the foot of the bed. He rubbed his eyes and motioned her to him. Lily quickly ran over and jumped into his bed, making him topple over. "Whoa! G'morning to you too! What were you doing?"

"She _was_ about to make up with Prongs. Oh, but as always, you have excellent timing," Remus said dryly. He plopped backwards into bed with a huge sigh, covering his eyes with his arm. Sirius blinked. "Oh." 

Lily had a big frown across her face. She thought she'd escaped it, but from the look on Sirius's face, he thought the entire idea was brilliant. He set her standing and took her little hands, grinning. 

"So! What're you waiting for? Let's go wake up Prongs! Kyah!" Sirius jumped off the bed with Lily in tow. He bounded into James's bed and began jumping up and down. James, being a light sleeper, woke up instantly and sat up with a scowl on his face. "P-Prongs! Lily - *huff* - says she wants to –" Bounce. "Say she's – " _Boing_. "Sorriiiieeeee!!" Sirius slipped off the bed and crashed to the ground. 

James was bewildered and glanced wildly back and forth over the edge of his bed. Then, as if he registered Sirius's words for the first time, he looked at Lily. She was standing wobbly with her hands behind her back. She stepped over the blankets and tentatively crawled into his lap. He was slightly stunned and when he broke out of his stupor, he hugged her. 

"So...admitting you were wrong?" James smirked. Lily smiled angelically up at him. There was a twinkle in her eyes as she shook her head, no. He tweaked her nose. "Liar."  She stuck her tongue out at him and then burrowed her head deeper into his chest. 

"Yeah! We're all happy mates now. Let's go to Hogsmeade!" Sirius shot up from his spot on the floor and swooped down to lift Lily into the air. He swung her around haphazardly. Suddenly, James gave a sharp warning, but it was already too late. Lily's ankle caught on something and knocked it over with a resounding _crash_. Sirius carefully backed away from the scene. 

Remus ambled over to see what had caused the noise. Peter fell out of bed and after fighting his way through his tangle sheets, he also went to investigate. There was broken glass all over the side of James's bed. Two crooked picture frames lied on the top of the clutter. Lily leaned in and silently gasped at what she saw. It wasn't the picture of James's family that shocked her, it was that fact that a beautiful redhead that looked almost exactly like her mother was moving along in the crumpled picture. 

"Is that...what..._mommy_?" No one heard her. Sirius picked Lily up so she wouldn't step on anything sharp and told her to hush. 

James pulled the two pictures out of the mess. His grandparents and parents were waving up at him. His mother blew him a kiss before he put the other photo in front. Peter had taken this picture the summer before they entered their seventh year. It was Remus, not he, who had somehow managed to convince Lily to join them for a week at the Potter's Manor. 

The picture showed the four eating popsicles in the garden. Sirius had overturned his Popsicle and positioned his head just so, so that he could catch the juice dribbling off it in his mouth. Remus was dozing off with the stick waving in his mouth. James didn't appear to have had an iced treat of his own. Picture James grinned before catching Picture Lily off guard and kissing her. He stole her Popsicle and ran out of sight with Lily giving chase. 

"Prongs..." Sirius walked towards him, but stopped when James whipped out his wand. He eyed it uneasily and then at James's stoic face. The face stuck his tongue out. 

"Don't worry about it. You lot always cause trouble," James sighed. Sirius looked incredulously at him. James muttered a spell and the pictures were fixed. However, upon closer inspection, the old picture of James's family had stopped moving. The glass was still cracked and the frame was tilting to one side. James pushed the picture faced down. He gave a grin and hopped out of bed. "To Hogsmeade, mates." 

*

Lily sat crammed in between Peter and Remus in the Great Hall. No one seemed to notice her which was all for the better because they didn't know what to do if they were found out. 

"I'm really sorry," Lily whispered again. She clutched onto the new outfit Remus had transfigured for her. It was a pretty powder pink tunic over a short-sleeved white shirt and a red scarf to match. The cloth belt she wore had a strawberry shaped buckle Remus thought was appropriate. She had asked him about it and he confusedly asked back whether he had gotten it wrong that it wasn't her favourite fruit after all. She merely shook her head and told him to forget it. 

"It's okay, Lily. It's just a picture," Remus whispered back. He put more bacon and eggs into her plate. "Finish your milk and have some of this. Then we're off." Lily obeyed and ate with her head down. 

*

"Ouch!" Lily fell back into the snow after colliding with someone's leg. Remus bent over and helped her up. He brushed away the flecks of snow on her cloak and looked up to see who had caused her to fall. 

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the infamous Marauders up to no good?" Snape drawled. 

"Stuff it, Snivellus," Sirius growled. But Snape wasn't listening anymore. His eyes were fixed intently on Lily. He frowned and his lips curled. 

"What is this...?" Before any of them could retort, Snape brushed past them into Hogsmeade. No one saw the arrogant smirk he had on his face as he went.  

"Anyway!" Lily chirped, bouncing up and down. "Let's go, please, let's go!"

Hogsmeade was busy that day. Loads of students were milling about and forming crowds around shops. It was rather difficult for them to move as a group, so when they reached a table at a dessert shop, they sat down and rested. 

"We should split up," huffed Sirius, his breath forming in the cold air. "We'll never get what we need if we keep trying to stick together." 

"Yea, okay," James said. "So, Sirius and I'll go check out that dragon tears thing and Remus – did you say you needed a new cloak or something? You go do that. Now...who'll take care of Lily?"

"I will!" said Peter happily. Sirius stared at his with one eye brow raised. 

"Mate, I can't even trust you with a hard-boiled egg." Peter's face fell. Remus patted him on the back. 

"Padfoot, don't be so mean." 

"I'm not!! He _ate_ it."

"Well, what's he supposed to do with an egg, anyway?"

"Ah-but...! Fine, Remus, Peter can take Lily." 

"Alright! C'mon, Lily. I'll get us some ice-creams and we'll go over to the toy shop. See you guys later!" Sirius didn't even get a chance to say 'Ice-cream in December?!' before Peter dragged Lily by the hand into the ice cream shop where he pointed at all one hundred flavours with enthusiasm. 

The others went their separate ways to buy their items. James and Sirius had to hard time getting around without being spotted and pulled aside by flirtatious girls. Remus tried to budget himself and thus ended up trying on several robes in the shop. Maybe it was because they were both small in size, but only Peter and Lily seemed to be gliding along quickly.

James, Sirius, and Remus met Peter outside of Zonko's two hours later. The first two boys looked rather disheveled, but held up a small flask, grinning. Remus held up a crisp shopping bag obviously containing his new clothes. Peter held up his milkshake and smiled widely. Sirius whipped his head back and forth. 

"AHA! You lost her, didn't you?!" Peter rolled his eyes. 

"No, Sirius. She's inside. I had a milkshake so I couldn't go in with her." 

The four peered through Zonko's large glass window and saw Lily crouching over some toy in the kid's section with two other red haired boys. They were laughing and chasing whatever it was and running away when the toy decided to chase them instead. Lily caught sight of the Marauders and, speaking very quickly to the two boys, grabbed their hands and ran outside. 

"Prongs! Padfoot! Remus! Peter! Look!!! This is Bill! And this is Charlie!" She held up their joined hands and waved them in the air. "They have red hair like me!" 

Charlie, the younger one smiled shyly and tried to hide behind Lily and his brother. Bill gave a big smile and they saw that his front teeth were missing. Lily was extremely happy and dragged the two boys in a circle around the Marauders singing an unknown melody. 

"Bill! Charlie, darling!" a voice called out. The seven looked and saw a woman making her way to them. She had a kind, round face and red hair. "Goodness, well, hello there. It seems like my boys have made some new friends! What's your name, sweetheart?"

"I'm Lily!" Lily beamed. Mrs.Weasley looked at the four older boys. Before she could ask, Lily said energetically, "They're my daddies!" 

Remus turned bright red and coughed silently. Sirius cleared this throat and laughed uneasily. Peter was oblivious to the whole situation and was eyeing a candy stand not far away, freezing in the snow. James smiled pleasantly and picked Lily off the ground to look at Mrs.Weasley and her shocked expression. 

"No Ma'am, we're not her fathers."

"Oh, of course not, how silly of me," Mrs.Weasley chortled. "It's lovely to see you taking time with her, though. I'm sorry, but Bill and Charlie need to get home now. Maybe we'll meet again some time. Take care now, dears!" 

Bill and Charlie each took one of their mother's hands and began to walk away. They turned back to wave at Lily who shouted as best she could a great goodbye. She waved back furiously and nearly fell out of James's arms. 

*

The stars were shining bright and true that night as Lily lied in bed beside Remus. She snuggled close to him and thanked him again for her new clothes he had gotten her during his trip into Hogsmeade. It wasn't much, but Lily liked it. He had gotten her a long sky blue nightshirt so she didn't have to wear Sirius's boxers or James's shirts all the time. 

"Remus?" Lily whispered.

"Hm? What is it?" 

"What was that scary bubbling in that big pot you took out after dinner?" 

Remus stroked her hair and looked thoughtful. She was referring to the cauldron that was brewing her counter-potion. He had added in the last ingredient in front of her and it gave off a slight explosion and started bubbling acidly. They only had to wait three days more for the potion to simmer before it was ready.

"Well," Remus said, inhaling deeply, "it's a secret, Lil. But I'll tell you soon." He hadn't really answered her question, but he didn't want to scare her. 

"Oh. Okay. Um, Remus? I have another question," Lily said. She shifted so she could see his face. "You know that picture beside Prongs's bed? Who was that? I thought I saw mommy." 

"Oh, that wasn't your mother, Lily. That was –" 

"Do you think Prongs is still mad at me?" Lily cut in. 

"No, he's not." 

"Really?" 

"Yea, really, Lil," Remus said sleepily and yawned. 

"Promise?"

"I promise," Remus answered softly. "Did you have fun today?"

"Yep! I made new friends and got free candy," Lily mumbled.

"Candy?" Remus waited for a reply, but when he looked in his arms, Lily had already fallen fast asleep. 

-

Thanks to: 

**BeeBee****: **Aww, thank you! I'd like to think that Sirius is good with kids. It's cute to think of him that way. Well, heck, he's cute any other way too! I made him a little more playful in this chapter because some of my friend were saying he was going out of character – he's not, is he?

**InsertRandomInsanityHere****: **(Whoo...long name!) Ahhh! I hurried as fast as I could, but I misplaced my diskette a while back. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reviewing!!

**it's**** a riot:** Thank you! I really appreciate your review. A lot of people have said they like the Sirius/Lily moments too! There're not so much of their scenes together in here. I concentrated a bit more on Remus this time. Glad you could stop by, hope you liked this chapter!

**Jessie Flower:** Was the James/Lily scene okay? I'm sorry it took me to long to update! Thank you for your awesome comments!

**lesleyCLOUTIER****: **hey carsonator! Hahahaa, thanks for the review!! Ah...joke, joke, joke. 

**missprongs****: **Oh my, please don't cry! Thanks for reading; I hope you liked Sirius in this chapter too!

**Oorjit****: **(I love your name, it's so original!) I'm trying to make Lily as cute as possible. I'm happy you like my story! Thank you!!

**Stableperson: **Ahh! Here's another chapter! I'm sorry for the long wait! Thanks for the review!

-

Whoo! I'm so so so so so so so so sorry for making you all wait so long. I'm really really really really sorry! I really love you guys for reviewing. You're ultra, super cool people. Honest. =)

I'd like to recommend a fic. If you liked this, I'm sure you'll like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by gohansfan. It's a one-shot and I thought it was pretty cute. (Lots of James, Sirius, and Lily stuff. Lily turns into a kid here too!) If you have the time, check it out!

I'll try to update faster, but knowing me, I'll probably lose my drafts again...oi...


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